District



I l a I/ No Model.)

R. JEPFARES & J. W. MQGANN. PORTABLE HAMMOOK SUPPORT.

No. 593,583. Patented Nov. 16,1897.

Warmer amxflz lINiTED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

RICHARD JEFFARES AND JOSEPH W. MCOANN, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA.

PO R TAB LE HAM MOCK-SU PPO RT.

$PEGIFICATION forming part of Letters'Patent No. 593,583, dated November16, 1897.

' Application filed February 9, 1897- Serial No. 622,657. (No model.)

a0 (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD J EFFARES and JOSEPH W.MCOANN,citizens ofthe United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Hammock-Supports; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in supports for hammocks, swings,and the like; and the primary object that We have in view is to providea support which may be easily folded into a small compact form to renderthe support easy to carry and transport from one place to another.

A further object of the invention isto simplify the construction of thesupport and provide it with means for rigidly and steadily locking theseveral elements thereof when unfolded for service.

Our improved support is especially serviceable for use by picnickingparties,excursions, and the like, because it is of such light weight andfolds into such small compass that it can be carried with as much easeand facility as the hammock itself.

To the accomplishment of these ends the first part of our inventionconsists in the combination, with a bed sill or beam, of sectional basesconnected to the respective ends of the bed sill or beam, each baseconstructed 'to have its sections interlock with each other whenunfolded for service against the end of the sill or beam, a pair ofuprights pivoted or hinged near the ends of said sill or beam,

and braces which connect with the uprights and with the sectional basesto hold the several parts rigidly and steadily when the support isunfolded and adjusted into operative position for service in holding ahammock, swing, or other like object. portance to the construction ofthe foldable bases, one of which is applied to each end of the sill orbeam. Each base consists of sections, which are hinged to the sill orbeam and are provided with jaws which when the sections are unfoldedinterlock with each other and abut or bear against the end of the sillor WVe attach im-' beam to make each base afford a steady brace for thesupport. In connection with such a sectional foldable base at each endof the sill or beam and with the foldable upright we employ twobrace-rods,which are connected with said upright and the sections ofeach base to hold the various parts in their adjusted positions andprevent the base or upright from collapsing under the weight or swayingof the hammock or swing that is adapted to be hung between the uprights;and the invention further consists in' the novel combination of elementsand in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will behereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand our invention, we have illustrated thepreferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof our improved hannnock-support, showing it opened and adjusted intooperative position. Fig.

2 is a similar perspective view of the support in its folded conditionfor easy transportation. Fig. 3 is an end elevation showing thearrangement of the braces for one of the fold able bases and the uprightthat is connected by said braces with the base.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figuresof the drawings, referring to which a The numeral 1 designates the basesill or beam, 2 2 are the foldable uprights, and 3 3 and 4 a are thefoldable bases applied to the respective ends of the base sill or beam.

In one embodiment of our invention we make the base sill or beam of two,three, or more pieces united laterally together to give 0 the sill theproper cross-sectional area and afiord the support the necessarystability, thus cheapenin g the manufacture; but it will be understoodthat we do not limit our invention to making the base in such pieces,because it is evident that the base may be made in one piece of properlength and crosssection.

\Ve pivotally attach the uprights 2 2 to the base-sill, near the endsthereof, by means of 00 the hinges 5, although other equivalent meansmay be used to connect the uprights to the end face of the base-sill.

base-sill in a manner to fold thereon. As in practice the combinedlength of the two uprights 2 2 is greater than the length of the sillbetween the hinges 5 we arrange these uprights and the hinges thereof onopposite sides of the median line of the base-sill, in order that saiduprights and their hin'ges be in different vertical planes, whereby theuprights are adapted to fold alongside of each other and downwardly uponthe base-sill, as shown by Fig. 2, the parts being thus compactlyarranged. In practice we bevel the hinged ends of the uprights at 6 andarrange the hinges on the opposing faces of the uprights, in order tomake the uprights assume inclined positions when they are unfolded andto cause the beveled ends 6 to abut solidly or bear firmly upon thebase-sill, thereby ste'adying the uprightswhen unfolded and relieving toa considerable degree the strain onthe hinges due to the weight of thehammock and the swaying thereof.

The support, and particularly the base-sill, is held from tipping overwhen the hammock swings or sways back and forth by the employment of thebases 3 3 and 4 4', arranged to stand outwardly from or to lie at rightangles to the base-sill 1 when the support isused. Each base consists oftwopa-rts or'sec tions', the sections of the base at one end of the sillbeing indicated by the reference-nu merals 3- 3- and the sections of theother base at the opposite end of the sill being indicated by thenumerals 4 at. The sections of the bases are" hinged near their ends tothe sidesof the base-sill at the end of the latter, as indicated at 6,to enable the base-sections to fold outwardly substantially at rightangles to the base-sill, said hinges 6 being attached to thebase-sections at points withinthe ends of the latter, so as to leavecertain parts of thebase section'sproject beyond the hinges and causesaid projecting parts,- when the base-sections are unfolded, tolapagainst the- These projecting ends of the sections of each base,which sections overlap the end of the sill, are formed to provide theinterlocking jaws, the jaw on one section beingin thefornrof anoverhangingv hook 7 with a recess 7, and the jaw of the other sectionbeing an upwardly-extending hook 8 with a recess 8. These hookshapedjaws are arranged to lap and bear against the end face of the sill andto interlock with each other to form a joint, which relieves the hinges6- in a great measure from strain when the hammock sways between theuprights 2 2 of the support. by reference to Fig. 3 that the hook 8 fitsinthe recess 7, and likewise that the hook 7 tits in the recess 8, thuscausing the jaws of each base to interlock in a vertical plane;

then to the other of the median line of the base the weight in thehammock is alternately shifted to'opposite sides of the sill and thustransferred, through the upright and the sill; to the base-sectionsalternately. As the base-sections are interlocked in a vertical plane bythe en gaging jaws against the weight of the hammock the hinges orjoints 6 are relieved to a great extent from the strain due to theshifting of the weight of the hammock,

1 thereby reducing'to a minimum the danger of breakage to the hingesfrom the load in the swaying hammock. To enable the jaws to fit closelytogether, we prefer to make the edge of the hooks with beveled joints,as shown by Figs. at and 5, but we do not limit ourselves to thisparticular form of joint,

nor, in fact, is our. invention restricted to the specific form of thehook-shaped jaws to form the interlocking jaws, because the shape of thejaws may be changed without departing Efrom the spirit of our invention.%to' make the edges of the hooks where they come together along the linea: in Fig. 3 with ithe reversely-beveled' edges, while the end edges ofthe sections along the linesy-y may be butt-joints. :the sections of thebase to open or close siimultaneously, but the form of joints may beivaried without departing from the spirit of our invention.

\Ve prefer- Tnis construction enables To adjust thesupport for use, theuprights 2 2 are opened upwardly and the base-sections are turnedoutwardly'to stand at right angles to the base-sill and cause the jawsthereof to interlock with each other, after which the brace-rods 9 10are adjusted to engage with the base-sections and thus-connect theuprights and the base-sections to prevent the parts from collapsing. Therods are preferably attached to the upright by a common staple or otherfastener 11, and the free ends of the rods have hooks to engage witheyes or 3 staples 12 on the base-sectious,thus pivota'l'ly or looselyattaching the brace-rods to the uprights and detachably connecting themto the base-sections. The hammock, swing, or other 1 structure isdesigned tobe suspended between the uprights 2 2, for which purposeweprovide the rings,links,or equivalent devices Him the attachment ofthe'ha'rnmock. To fold the support, thebrace-rods are unhooked from thebase-sections, the uprights are turned down 1. upon the base-sill andalongside of each other, and the base-sections are turned around to lielaterally against the sides of the base-sill, ias shown by Fig. 2, thuscompactly arrangiing the various parts of the support. 5 sired, theparts in their folded condition may be strapped together or confined inany other suitable way.

It will be seen 5,

If de- It is thought that the operation and adlvantages of ourhammock-support will be 1 readily understood and appreciated from theforegoing description taken in connection the drawings.

As the hammock sways first to one side and i 1 construction herein shownand described as the preferred embodiment of our invention may be madeby a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificingthe advantages thereof, and we therefore reserve the right to make suchalterations as fairly fall within the scope of our invention.

Having thus fully described ourinvention, what we claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hammock-support, the combination with a base-sill, and foldableuprights, of sectional bases having their members hinged to thebase-sill and each base having its members provided with jaws whichinterlock with each other when the parts are adjusted for service andbrace the parts against vertical strain, and means for locking the partsagainst collapsing,substantially as described.

2. In a hammock-support, the combination with a base-sill, and foldableuprights, of the sectional bases each having its members pivotallyattached to the base-sill at the ends thereof and provided with jawsarranged to overlap the end faces of the sills and to interlock witheach other, and means to lock the base-sections and said uprights intheir operative positions, substantially as described.

3. In a hammock-support, the combination with a base-sill, and foldableuprights, of the sectional bases hinged to the side of the basesill, atthe ends of the latter, and provided with the interlocking hook-shapedjaws which overlap the end faces of said base-sill, the meeting edges ofsaid hook-shaped jaws being provided at certain line or lines withbevels, and brace-rods attached to the uprights and adapted to bedetachably connected to the sections of the bases, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our. signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

RICHARD J EFFARES. JOSEPH W. MOOANN. Witnesses:

HENRY E. COOPER, J. F.'H. MorHERsHEAD.

